Holborn - Perfect Day in London

I know you'll love today's Perfect Day in London.  It is another free day in this great city I call home. 

This perfect day starts at Holborn Station, which is on the Piccadilly & Central Lines.  The Holborn area of the city is one that I know very well.  Before we moved to London, this was usually our homebase when we visited because one of Matt's offices is not far from the station.  The apartment we lived in for a few weeks upon moving to London is just down the street as well.  Aside from that, it's just a cool area with a ton of history.    

Walk out the front of Holborn Station and turn left to follow Kingsway. Turn left a few blocks down onto Remnant Street.

You'll follow this until you come to a park called Lincoln's Inn Fields.  If the weather permits take some time to appreciate that this is the largest public square in London.  You'll see people exercising, playing tennis, or relaxing on the benches.  If you are lucky you might get to see some performers practice juggling bowling pins and cracking a whip.  You just never know what you'll see in London.  Also be sure to admire the houses that line the square.  

The next stop on this Perfect Day in London is in one of those houses back on Remant Street/Lincoln's Inn Field at the Sir John Soane Museum.  This free museum is Soane's former home and it is filled to the brim with more antiquities that you ever thought could be in a home.  The curators are quite passionate about the museum and tend to follow you around just to be sure you don't touch anything.  They don't bother you, per se, but there's certainly a sense of someone always watching.  Despite that, completely worth a visit.  If you visit soon, you can also book a tour of Soane's private apartments.    

When you leave the Soane manor, walk directly across the green space to the Royal College of Surgeons where you will find the Huntarian Museum (click link for my blog post).  The museum's namesake worked hard to collect medical specimens for study and preservation.  Don't be put off by the subject because this specimens in the museum are presented quite tastefully.  The building below does not quite look like a museum, but the nice people at the front desk will point you in the right direction.    

After seeing all of the body parts in jars, I bet you are starving for lunch.  You are in luck as there are many, many choices for lunch near Holborn Station.  Back on Kingsway across the street from Holborn Station is Wagamama Noodle Bar.  This restaurant is a chain, but they consistently make great food.  You'll sit at communal-style tables while you eat your ramen or curry.  If noodles aren't on your palate for today Kingsway has several grab & go/quick service places instead (EAT, Wasabi, Pret a Manger).  

If you are not yet hungry take the half-mile walk to Covent Garden.  This area of town has a lot of restaurants in the piazza and surrounding streets.      

After lunch take some time to explore Covent Garden.  The buskers begging for money are quite varied from the floating Yoda to a live magic show.  The streets surrounding the Piazza are fun to window shop, too.

As of May 2015, Covent Garden Underground station is exit only.  If the tube is your mode of transport today, you will need to find your way to another station.  Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road, and Holborn stations are not far from Covent Garden.  

I hope you like this Perfect Day in London!  Let me know if you've visited any or all of these sites, I'd like to know what you thought.

Every day can be a Perfect Day in London as long as you are prepared.  Always have a collapsible umbrella in your bag.  No matter the weather, dress in layers.  The shade-filled streets, museums, and parks can be significantly cooler than the sunny sidewalks. 

Paris Times Deux - Touring Tuesday

Last fall I had the pleasure of going to Paris. 

Twice.

The two-hour Eurostar train ride from London's St. Pancras Station couldn't be easier.  If you book your ticket well in advance, you can get a round trip for £79 ($120).  Another bonus to the Eurostar is that when you disembark from the train at Gare du Nord Station, you are already in Paris and can get started with your touring immediately.  If you fly it can take well over an hour from Charles de Gaulle Airport to get into Paris via public transport.  No one has time for that on a short visit.

The first of my trips to Paris was with my mom.  She was planning to visit Paris with some of her friends, but unfortunately that trip fell through.  So Matt knew that she'd appreciate a short side trip when she came for a visit in September.  He booked us for one night at a hotel close by the Arc de Triomphe.  The goals of our trip consisted seeing as many iconic structures as our feet could handle and eat along the way.  We lucked out with gorgeous weather.  With our limited time we only went into the Musée d'Orsay, and I am so glad we did.  The museum is a beautiful old train station, and the art is gorgeous.  We liked the place so much we decided to have lunch in the cafe, and it was delicious.  

It may appear that a majority of our caloric intake was from sugar, but we did have four square meals while in Paris.  Breakfast in the hotel was standard European pastries, muesli, coffee, and fruit. One lunch was at a terrible cafe a few blocks off the Champs Élysées, but dinner completely made up for it.  We ate at a little place where we could see the chef cooking our meal and practically licked our plates. 

I can't share mom's trip to Paris without showing you this scary van.  Stay away children, stay away.

The second visit to Paris was with two mums (that's British for moms) from school.  This trip was planned for the first weekend in December.  It's not the most ideal time to go, but we were willing to take our chances with the weather.

The thing that was different about this trip........we went to Paris for the day.  

We left on the 6:30AM train and returned on the 10:30PM.  We did not tour any museums, but we sure saw a lot of beautiful spots.  Even though it was the first Friday in December, not all of the trees had dropped their leaves.

Notre Dame is a stunning building.  The bridges covered in locks are not as stunning.  I think the concept is a smidge overdone, but that's my opinion.  

The Christmas market was up and running along the Champs Élysées, and we made a pit stop for a glass of champagne.  It gave us enough buzz to keep walking to get to the  Eiffel Tower.  Once we made it to the spot in the photo above, our feet refused to move much further.  We hopped on the Metro in search of dinner.   

One of the moms talked to the French man sitting with us on the train to tell us where we should eat.  At first he thought she was joking, but when she wouldn't drop the subject he gave us a few places he liked.  It did not cross our minds that the places he recommended would not open until 8PM so that did not work for us to make our return train.  We stumbled across a restaurant that made us all happy, and our feet thanked us for the short respite.  

Our ride back to London was significantly quieter than our ride into Paris, but we made the most out of our few hours.    

Would I go back to Paris?  Oui.
Would I do a day trip again? Oui.

As if you needed another reason to why Europe is great.

A4 Update - April 2015

April was filled with fun.

Both of our kids celebrated their birthdays. The small distance between their dates makes for a busy month. Thankfully they are easy to please; Oldest Kiddo was thrilled with books & clothes and Youngest Kiddo Legos, Legos, Legos.

Holly's sister & nephew visited for ten days around Easter. They got the full tour of London.  

After the family returned to 'Merica, we spent the last few days of the kids' Easter break in Berlin.

Matt was only gone one day this month, such a difference from last month's 15 days.  

The month rounded out with another set of visitors to the Manor from 'Merica.

Youngest Kiddo lost his two front teeth, but only one was available for the Tooth Fairy.  He swallowed the first one with his breakfast!

Just Call Me Cruise Director - Touring Tuesday

I have to pat myself on the back with the itinerary I planned for my sister & eleven year-old nephew's visit at the end of March.  Maybe my new name should be Julie McCoy. 

Day 1 (Monday) - The kids and I picked them up at Heathrow.  Thanks to the real-time data on the Flightradar24 app, I knew exactly when to leave The Manor.  We only waited for a few minutes before they emerged from passport control.  We spent the day back at The Manor trying to keep them awake with a trip to the park, a quick shop on the high road, and a few games of Chutes & Ladders.

  

Day 2 (Tuesday) - There's no better way to get over jet lag than to get out into the sunshine!  Our day started with a spin around The London Eye (be sure to buy your tickets online for a discount).  We grabbed lunch and walked up to Trafalgar Square so the kids could climb around on the lions.  Then we walked up The Mall to Buckingham Palace.  Our day ended with a walk through Hyde Park so the kids could play pirates with sticks.  

Day 3 (Wednesday) - Youngest Kiddo got sick overnight and was down for the count on Wednesday morning.  I did not want our guests to miss out on a day in the city so I gave the reins to my understudy, Oldest Kiddo.  She was elated to play cruise director and navigate them to South Kensington for a day at The Science Museum & Natural History Museum.  She also happened to suggest a stop for fro-yo on their walk back to The Tube.

Day 4 (Thursday) - The boy was back on track so the whole crew could head back out into the city.  We started at The Tower of London to hear about various beheadings and see the gorgeous Crown Jewels.  Since we were so close, a tour of The Tower Bridge was a no brainer.  The new glass walkway is stupendous.  

Day 5 (Friday) - Youngest Kiddo was left at home with Matt so we could have a day of magic at The Harry Potter Studio Tour.  It's a bit out of town, but public transport is very convenient.  The studio recently opened a new section with a Hogwarts Express steam train which was adorable as they set up some of the cars with memorabilia from the movie.  You must prebook tickets if you decide to visit this phenomenal place.  We met Matt and Youngest Kiddo back in London for dinner to round out the day.

Day 6 (Saturday) - Youngest Kiddo was back to not feeling great so he stayed home with Matt again while we made a day in the city.  Our first stop was the Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street.  I cannot emphasize how lovely this FREE spot is to visit.  The views of the city really show off how London is a mix of old, old buildings and new, new buildings.  Across the street from 20 Fenchurch is Leadenhall Market, which was used for some of the Diagon Alley scenes in the Harry Potter movies.  To round out the day, we went full on tourist and went to Piccadilly Circus for a stop at a crap from London store, Liberty, Fortnum & Mason, and Hamley's Toy Store (not recommended for a Saturday).  

Day 7 (Easter Sunday) - This was our only day of rest.  The kids had fun playing games and consuming Easter candy while the adults enjoyed time on the couch.

Day 8 (Monday) - Matt joined us today as Easter Monday is a day off for the UK.  The day began at the British Museum to see the mummies, Elgin Marbles, and Rosetta Stone.  We grabbed lunch at Wagamama in Covent Garden then trekked to Paddington Station to show them a proper European train station.  Since it was a gorgeously sunny day, Youngest Kiddo and I played in the grass while the rest of the family toured Kensington Palace.  We hurried home for dinner because my sister and I had tickets to see Shakespeare in Love at the theatre.

Day 9 (Tuesday) - On their last full day in London we visited St. Paul's Cathedral and climbed the 200+ steps to the Whispering Gallery.  We also made a quick stop at The Museum of London to see the exhibitions about the city.  This museum is certainly a cool spot; I especially like seeing the Olympic cauldron and the elevator from Selfridge's Department Store.  Our day ended with a stop at the shops for British candy to go back to America.  

Day 10 (Wednesday) - This was leaving day for everyone.  My sister & nephew had their flight back to 'Merica, and our little family had a flight to Berlin!

We crammed a lot into their visit, but I know they will always remember it!